This invention relates generally to gloves for removing lint, hair, and other fibrous and particulate matter and materials from a selected surface, and, more particularly, to disposable lint gloves used to remove hair and other unwanted fibers and particulate matter from surfaces such as, but not limited to, clothing, furniture, bedding, car upholstery, and the like, and the methods of using the same.
Materials and devices for removing lint from various surfaces have been developed. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9clintxe2x80x9d means fibers from both natural and/or synthetic sources, including hair from any animal, and any natural and/or synthetic particles or particulate matter. Typically, lint removal materials are comprised of a paper-type support substrate having an adhesive layer provided thereon, such as a masking tape.
Commonly, lint removal materials are carried in one form or another on a hand held device which is manipulated to effect removal of the lint. For example, roller type devices such as the device taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,726, incorporate a roll of adhesive tape supported by a handle member and adapted for being rolled against a lint containing surface. Still other devices, such as the lint pick-up device taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,344, incorporate individual adhesive coated planar sheets attached to a support platform at the end of an elongated handle for being repeatedly forced against a lint containing surface. These and other such adhesive material carrying devices have a number of drawbacks and limitations. For example, they can be difficult and unwieldy to handle, often requiring the user to control a separate apparatus upon which a supply of adhesive tape must be continually adjusted and maintained. Furthermore, such devices are often too large and cumbersome to be comfortably maintained on one""s person until needed.
Lint removal mitts having adhesive thereon and configured for receiving some or all of a user""s hand also have disadvantages. Some such devices, such as that taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,154, are difficult to control and can inadvertently fall off during use. U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,970 teaches such a device which includes a wrist retention means for lessening the propensity of the mitt to fall off during use. However, the mitt taught in the ""970 patent has a number of inherent disadvantages and limitations. For example, the necessity for a special wrist retention means requires the wearer to carefully fold the mitt along specific fold lines after placing a hand in the mitt, in order to secure the lower end of the mitt about the user""s wrist so that the lint mitt will not easily fall off or slip off of the user""s hand during use. Furthermore, the lint mitt taught in the ""970 patent includes a single finger retaining area which limits the precision and control with which a user can contact a small, hard-to-reach area. Additionally, the ""970 patent does not teach a construction or method enabling a plurality of individual-packaged lint mitts to be compactly and discreetly carried on ones person, nor does it teach a construction or method enabling a plurality of individual mitts to be dispensed from a common source.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a disposable lint removing glove having the form of a human hand, wherein the glove has at least one tacky surface and is shaped and sized for being snugly retained upon the hand of a wearer without easily falling off or slipping off during use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a lint removing glove having a protective layer covering the tacky surface, wherein the protective layer maintains the integrity of the tacky surface until peeled away by the wearer.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lint removing glove constructed from a multi-layer planar sheet, wherein the multi-layer construction incorporates integral packaging means for protecting the glove in a compact form.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a plurality of lint removing gloves constructed from and maintained along a contiguous multi-layer planar sheet carried on a roller in a compact rolled-up form, wherein individual gloves are separated along the sheet by a plurality of spaced apart perforated lines.
These and other objects are achieved with the lint removing glove of the present invention which in one aspect of the invention comprises: front and back layers of plastic sheeting each having the form of a human hand and heat sealed about their peripheries to form a unitary glove having a hand-receiving opening defining an inner retaining space including individual palm, thumb and finger-receiving spaces; a tacky coating disposed upon and chemically attached to an outer facing surface of the front layer; and a removable adhesive protection layer overlying the adhesive coating, wherein upon peeling away the protective layer, the adhesive coating is left substantially intact on the outer surface of the front layer of the glove.
In another aspect of the invention, a combination disposable lint removal glove and packaging construction is provided, comprising: a base substrate having upper and lower surfaces; a front layer of plastic sheeting having a lower surface; an adhesive coating disposed upon and chemically attached to the lower surface of the front layer of plastic sheeting; and a back layer of plastic sheeting disposed above the first layer of plastic sheeting. The front and back layers of plastic sheeting are selectively heat sealed to each other to form a sealed peripheral glove portion having the form of a human hand, with the front and back layers left unattached along a bottom end of the hand form to fashion a hand-receiving opening. A perforated hand form is provided through the plastic sheeting layers and the adhesive slightly exterior of the peripheral seal to enable the glove to be isolated from the underlying base substrate with the adhesive coating remaining intact on the front layer lower surface.
In a further aspect of the present invention, the lint glove packages are provided in the form of a contiguous roll of sheet-type packages separated by perforation lines. Preferably, the contiguous roll of packages is maintained upon a roller.
In still another aspect of the present invention, individual packages are provided in which the base substrate is inwardly folded to form a compact package in which only the lower surface of the base substrate remains exposed.